Port Alsworth cleans up at Dillingham Invitational cross country meet

Runners from Port Alsworth placed first in three of four categories at the cross country meet in Dillingham on Saturday.

The high school boys start their 5K race.

Credit Robyn Chaney

On Saturday, 75 students from six area schools competed at the Dillingham Invitational cross country meet. It was the last opportunity for athletes to shake off the dust of the summer before the regional competition next weekend.

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Port Alsworth made a standout performance, putting in the fastest times for high school boys, high school girls and middle school girls. Three Port Alsworth brothers, Callen Davis, Taylor Davis and Coleson Davis, dominated the high school boys category, taking first through third.

“They are fast," said Karl Clark, Dillingham Schools athletic director. “They blew through us at the halfway mark at about six minutes, and everybody was in awe when we saw how fast these boys were running. We saw Callen Davis came through to finish, and we’re like ‘Holy cow! He is cooking with gas today.’”

The one category Port Alsworth did not lead was middle school boys. Dillingham’s Demetry Hoseth came in almost a minute faster than the closest runner.

“He ran a 19:50 this weekend. He’s an eighth grade boy, and his goal is to beat the new course record,” said Clark. “He’s looking really strong for the middle school boy’s program right now.”

Demetry Hoseth was had the fastest time among the middle school boys.

Credit Robyn Chaney

Regional track meets next weekend will determine which athletes qualify for state. Dillingham and Southwest Region School District schools will compete in New Stuyahok Sept. 23. Cole Dull from Dillingham and Casey Konukpeok from New Stuyahok are two runners to watch in that meet, said Clark.

“Those two are going to go head-to-head next weekend at regions. They’ll be really exciting to watch. On the girl’s side, we have Alessandra Bavilla who’s running really strong for us now, and Jean Krause. Those two are really strong runners, and Kendra Kapotak’s right there in the mix, so we’re looking strong. My prediction is we could possibly get three boys and three girls to state,” said Clark.

The state championship will be in Anchorage the last weekend in September.